President Droupadi Murmu hosted her first 'At Home' reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occassion of the country's 76th Independence Day after taking over the top constitutional post last month. Indian, Italian and Turkish cuisines were laid out for the guests at the 'At Home' reception, which was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of the council of ministers.
The delectable menu included Gujarati cuisines like coconut khandvi, handvo and fafda. The menu also included dishes like palak patta, tarbooz ki chaat, Kabuli chana tikki and avocado chutney, ANI reported.
For desert, there was Italian panna cotta in colours of the Indian flag. Shahi aloo matar samosa, baklava and pista and fennel lancha were other items on the menu.
Moroccan green mint tea and roasted clove coffee and watermelon juice were served to the dignitaries as beverages. The attendees were also treated to gulab jamun.
The function began with the traditional rendition of national anthem after which the President greeted the dignitaries.
Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda, Minister of Human Resources Development Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP President JP Nadda, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra and envoys of various countries also attended the function.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena attended the ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan but Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not present. Former Vice President Hamid Ansari was also present. Among Opposition parties, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury was the only one present at the reception.
In her maiden address to the nation on the eve of the 76th Independence Day, President Murmu talked about India's vibrant democracy, success story of Covid-19 vaccines, Atmanirbhar Bharat and the growth of the country's economy after the pandemic.
She also said India had helped the world discover the true potential of democracy and the keyword for the country today was compassion for the downtrodden, needy and those on the margins.
(With inputs from agencies)